Running Late
by all continues to be well
Summary: actbw: Fred has to make a decision between being even later for Quidditch practice than he already is or spending an extra few minutes with his girlfriend. [Fred Weasley & Moira Liyanage]


More than anything Fred liked to spend time alone with his girlfriend Moira, which was fortunate because none of his friends could stand her and therefore every time he was with her he was almost certainly not accompanied by any of them.

"I have to go to Quidditch practice," he murmured into her hair.

The two of them had fit themselves into an armchair by the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Moira's head was buried in the space between Fred's neck and shoulder, while her legs were tucked up on his lap.

"Oh, don't go," said Moira, wrapping her arms tightly around him.

"I have to. If I don't I'll be murdered in my sleep."

"No you won't; I'll protect you."

Fred chuckled. "I'm not sure you could take on James, Alex, and Lucian in a duel."

"Fine," she said, not moving. "But I'm still not letting you go."

"How are you going to stop me?"

She clasped her hands together, so that Fred's torso was trapped between her arms.

"Well, I'm trapped forever now," said Fred. "How will I ever escape?"

With great ease, Fred scooped Moira up, with one hand under her legs and one on her waist. Then, he stood up, taking her with him.

"Oh, that's right!" he cried. "I'm stronger than you."

Moira wriggled around in Fred's arms. For a moment he thought she was trying to get down, but she was just trying to make herself more comfortable.

"This is nice," she said.

"Really?"

"Yes, I think you should carry me everywhere. Even to Quidditch practice."

Fred raised an eyebrow. "You would enjoy watching me practice Quidditch in the dark?"

"I suppose not," she conceded.

"Can I put you down now?"

"But I'm so comfortable."

Making his way over to an unoccupied sofa, Fred lowered Moira down. After he released her, he moved his hands to her face and, cupping her cheeks, gave her a quick kiss on the nose and another on the lips.

"I'll stay up until you get back," she said, her big brown eyes gazing up at him.

"Good," he replied, and gave her one last kiss. "I'll see you then."

When Fred finally got to the Quidditch pitch, the rest of his teammates were already changing.

"Oh, there you are," said Dominique Weasley, their team captain, "I was just about to send James to look for you."

She appeared calm enough, so Fred gave a small smile and began to change his own clothes.

The sound of a shoe dropping violently to the floor stopped them all mid-action. Alex Wood was standing in the corner looking furious and wearing only one shoe. He then pointed aggressively at Fred.

"Can I help you?" asked Fred.

"You are careless," said Alex through gritted teeth. "You need to start showing up on time!"

Alex was beginning to go red in the face. It looked as though a rant was coming Fred's way, when Roxanne stepped in.

"Oh, leave him alone," she snapped. "Besides, you're not actually the team captain. James, what happened to that handy badge you made him last year?"

"What, the one that said 'Not Team Captain' on it? He threw it against the wall in a rage when Slytherin beat us in a match," said James.

Alex tensed up at this.

"Alex, mate," said Fred calmly, "We did still win the cup. Remember?"

But Alex didn't reply. He had become too livid to speak, which was more than fine with the rest of them.

"Where were you anyway?" said James in a hushed tone to Fred, to make sure Alex didn't hear and find his voice again in newfound anger.

"With Moira," said Fred.

James made a face. "Bloody Moira," he said, as though the phrase was a curse in itself. "Why are you still hanging around with her?"

Fred shrugged, not meeting James' eye.

"You need to cut that one loose," said James.

"Don't worry, I'm going to break up with her soon enough," Fred assured him.

"Good."

"Only," began Fred, "It's just that it's almost her birthday and I already got her a present. Besides, you can't break up with a girl just a few months before her birthday. It's insensitive, isn't it?"

Rolling his eyes, James said, "Fine."

"Not to mention her OWLs this year and I don't want to make her all sad just before them. I'll wait until the end of the year. At least."


End file.
